System and method for providing an application to a device

ABSTRACT

The disclosed embodiments include a system and method for providing at least one electronic application to at least one device. In one embodiment, the method includes acquiring device information that relates to the device and determining whether the device supports the at least one application based on the device information. The method may further include generating an electronic message for the device wherein the message contains at least one link for acquiring the at least one application when the device supports the application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The embodiments described herein relate to a system and method forproviding an electronic application to a device.

BACKGROUND

Portable devices, such as mobile telephones and personal digitalassistant (PDA) devices, provide users/customers convenience inreceiving and transmitting information. These devices are typicallyconfigured to run various electronic applications including videoapplications, e-mail applications, and the like. However, loading theseand other electronic applications onto the devices has proven to beburdensome and inefficient for the device user. For example,conventional methods of loading/downloading electronic applicationsinclude physically connecting the device to a specialized applicationtool, which requires the customer to return the device to the deviceretailer or location having the application tool. A second methodincludes downloading applications using the wireless applicationprotocol (WAP) that requires the customer to navigate through adedicated portal having successive links for initiating applicationdownload. In many cases, utilizing the WAP method requires the customerto terminate an existing call or session in order to perform thedownload operation. An additional method for providing an applicationincludes a push over-the-air (POTA) method, wherein a service providerinitiates an application download to the customer. However, it iscommonly known that not all wireless devices (e.g., cellular telephones)support the POTA mechanism.

The embodiments described herein were conceived in view of these andother disadvantages of conventional methods for providing electronicapplications.

SUMMARY

The disclosed embodiments include a system and method for providing atleast one electronic application to at least one device. The methodincludes acquiring device information that relates to the device. Themethod also includes determining whether the device supports the atleast one application based on the device information. The methodfurther includes generating an electronic message for the device whereinthe message contains at least one link for acquiring the at least oneapplication when the device supports the application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features of the described embodiments are set forth withparticularity in the appended claims. These embodiments, both as totheir organization and manner of operation, together with furtheradvantages thereof, may be best understood with reference to thefollowing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for providing applications to an electronicdevice in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B include a flow chart that illustrates a method forproviding applications to an electronic device; and

FIGS. 3-5 illustrate various graphical user interfaces in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

As required, detailed descriptions of embodiments are disclosed herein.However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various andalternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific functional details disclosed herein arenot to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basisfor the claims and/or as a representative basis for teaching one skilledin the art.

Referring to FIG. 1, a communication system 10 is illustrated thatenables a customer having a device to receive electronic applications inan efficient manner. The communication system 10 includes anadministration system 12, a web form 14, a provisioning services layer16, a batch script 18, a service provider 20 and a device 22. It isrecognized that alternative embodiments may have varying configurationsthan those illustrated in FIG. 1 without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. For example, in some embodiments for automatedtransactions, the administration system 12 may communicate directly withthe provisioning services layer 16 without utilizing the web form 14 asan interface.

The device 22 may be an electronic device including, but not limited to,a mobile telephone, a computing device, and/or a personal digitalassistant (PDA). A user/system operator may utilize a graphical userinterface (also referred to herein as web form 14) to enable a downloadto the device 22 of electronic applications including, but not limitedto, an email client application, a television (TV) client application, atheme client application, and the like. Additionally, although only asingle service provider 20 and a single device 22 are shown, theembodiments described herein are equally configured to generate andtransmit electronic messages containing electronic applications tovirtually any number of devices, which may be serviced by virtually anynumber of service providers.

The email client application, which may be embodied as a softwareapplication, enables the device 22 to receive, display and generateemail messages. The TV client application enables video streaming to thedevice 22 for the viewing of TV programs including, but not limited to,cable programs. The theme client application provides a viewingenvironment for the device 22. For example, the theme client applicationmay include a customized background picture that is displayed by device22. Additionally, the theme client application is configured to enableautomatic downloading of other electronic applications including, butnot limited to, the email client application and the TV clientapplication. For instance, when the theme client application isdownloaded, the customer may automatically download the email clientapplication and the TV client application upon initial use of therespective application.

The web form 14 is a user interface that is generated by a web server.In one aspect of the invention, the web server that generates web form14 may be configured to communicate with the administration system 12and the provisioning services layer 16. The administration system 12 maybe a billing, customer order and/or an accounting system that enablescreating, updating and tracking of an account(s) associated with thedevice 22. In one non-limiting embodiment, the administration system 12may be an administration system for a cable service provider.Additionally, the service provider 20 may be a provider of wirelessservices including, but not limited to wireless phone services. Serviceprovider 20 may have a dedicated administration system for billing andaccount administration that is separate from the administration system12.

As commonly known, the customer having the device 22 typically purchasesthe services available through the use of the device 22. These servicesare tracked through the use of an account that is associated with device22. When electronic applications are downloaded by device 22, thecommunication system 10 is adapted to update the account information ofthe account to enable optimal account administration. In someembodiments the administration system 12 has a dedicated user interfacefor administration of the account. The user interface of administrationsystem 12 may be configured to redirect the system operator to the webform 14.

When downloading the applications as described herein, a reporting tool,in the form of a software application, may be programmed into theadministration system 12 for providing reports on accounts associatedwith the device 22. For example if there are changes to the servicesoffered via the service provider 20, the reporting tool may retrieve thecorresponding data from the service provider 20 and communicate thechanges to the system operator via the administration system 12.Furthermore, the communication system 10 may include a reconciliationtool that communicates with service provider 20 to reconcile andvalidate changes to the customer's account so as to minimize errors inthe administration of the account.

Communications between the web form 14 and the service provider 20 arerouted and processed through the use of the provisioning services layer16. As shown, the provisioning services layer 16 includes a deviceservices component 16 a, a subscriber services component 16 b and amessaging services component 16 c. The device services component 16 a,subscriber services component 16 b and messaging services component 16 cmay be implemented via electronic software that runs on a server.

Regarding the device 22, it is recognized that the device 22 hasspecific device information that pertains to the device. For instance,the device information may include, but is not limited to, the make andmodel of the device 22. The device information may be stored within thememory of a server of provisioning services layer 16 in the form of anelectronic database or file. In one embodiment, the device servicescomponent 16 a provides and/or acquires the make and/or model of thedevice 22. The device services component 16 a may also provide thecapabilities of device 22 for supporting various electronic applications(e.g., email client application, TV client application and theme clientapplication). Accordingly, via the device services component 16 a, thecommunication system 10 may determine whether a specific electronicdevice supports the electronic applications.

The subscriber services component 16 b enables the lookup of serviceinformation for the device 22, based on an account identification (ID)associated with the device 22. It is recognized that service informationincludes, but is not limited to, contact information such as phonenumbers (MDNs) and the like.

The messaging services component 16 c generates/transmits an electronicmessage(s) for the device 22. The message(s) generated for the device 22may include a hyper-text link, in the form of a uniform resource locator(URL) link, which is linked to the application to be downloaded by thedevice 22. In one embodiment, the electronic message may be a shortmessage service (SMS) message that is transmitted utilizing a shortmessage peer-to-peer (SMPP) protocol. In other embodiments, the messagegenerated by messaging services component 16 c may be transmittedutilizing the post office protocol version 3 (POP3) or a simple messagetransfer protocol (SMTP). It is recognized, however, that the specificcommunications protocols used in transmitting the message may varywithout departing from the scope of the present invention. Once thedevice 22 receives the message, the customer may select the link withinthe message thereby initiating the download of the electronicapplication(s).

Additionally, it is recognized that in some cases a message generated bythe provisioning services layer 16 may not be properly received bydevice 22. Accordingly, the messaging services component 16 c mayinclude an error response tool. In the event of an error in messagetransmission, the error response tool enables an error/fault message tobe generated that is received and displayed for a system operator viathe web form 14.

In some cases, as will be described below, it is desirable to generateand transmit a plurality of electronic messages in a batch. Accordingly,the provisioning services layer 16 via the messaging services component16 c may execute a batch script 18, which may be embodied as computercode. Particularly, in the event that a transmitted message is notcorrectly received by device 22, the communication systems 10 isconfigured to resend the electronic message along with other messagesfor other devices in a batch. In one aspect of the invention, the batchscript 18 may include a batch file having data pertaining to the phonenumber of device 22, the make of device 22, the model of device 22, anemail support flag, a TV client support flag, and a theme support flag.The flags may indicate whether the device 22 is to receive certainservices (e.g., email services, TV services, and the like). In oneembodiment, the administration system 12 sets the email support flag,the TV client support flag, and the theme support flag based upon thespecific services purchased by the customer. The above-described dataenables the proper and efficient distribution of electronic messages forthe device 22.

In some instances, messages destined for the device 22 may be batchedwhen the telephone number (or mobile directory number (MDN) in the caseof mobile telephones) is to be “ported.” It is recognized that “porting”occurs when a customer changes from one service provider to another butmaintains the same telephone number. In such a case, the customer'stelephone number should be ported from the old service provider to thenew service provider.

When a customer changes service providers it is common for the customerto acquire a new telephone that would be used as the device 22. However,it is also common for there to be a delay, due to shipping, etc.,between the time the service provider is changed and the time at whichthe customer actually receives the new telephone for use. In such acase, porting of the telephone number from the old service provider tothe new service provider is delayed until the new telephone is receivedand activated by the customer. Accordingly, in one embodiment, theelectronic message that would be generated by the messaging servicescomponent 16 c, in response to a request from the administration system12, may be batched and transmitted after a predetermined delay period.The system operator may set the delay period based on the length of ananticipated porting delay. Multiple electronic messages containing theapplications may be batched and later transmitted to a plurality ofdevices, via the respective service providers for each device.

In an alternative embodiment, batching of electronic messages may not berequired. In such an embodiment, the service provider 20 (which may bethe customer's newly chosen service provider) generates an electronicreport for the administration system 12 that indicates when porting ofeach telephone number (or MDN in the case of mobile phones) has beencompleted. The electronic report may be processed by the provisioningservices layer 16 and/or the administration system 12. So as to notrequire batching of messages, the electronic message containing theembedded application(s) would be generated upon receipt of theelectronic report that indicates that the porting process is complete.

As illustrated, the service provider 20 initially receives messagesgenerated by the provisioning services layer 16. In one embodiment, themessages generated by the messaging services component 16 c may be sentvia the Internet to the service provider 20. The service provider 20 maythen remove any unnecessary internet protocol (IP) components attachedto the message. In so doing, the service provider 20 may wirelesslytransmit the electronic message having the application link to thedevice 22. Upon receipt of the electronic message, the customer maysimply select the link embedded in the message to acquire (i.e.,download) the application.

Now, referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, a flow chart illustrates a method forproviding the application(s) to an electronic device, which may beadministered through the use of a user interface (web form 14). Block 30is the entry point into the method. A system operator selects anadministration link provided on the web form as shown at block 32. Block34 depicts the automatic population of the account number field locatedon the web form. Automatic population of the web form enhancesprocessing speed. Accordingly, at block 36, the contact or deviceinformation for the account that is associated with the device isacquired. As described above, the contact information may include, butis not limited to telephone numbers (e.g., MDNs) for the device. Block38 illustrates selection of the make and model for each device thatrequires the electronic application. It is recognized that once the makeand model for the device has been selected the web form may beautomatically updated via the administration system and the provisioningservices layer to show the applications that are suitable for theparticular device based on the device's make and model. Accordingly,block 40 depicts updating of the web form to show the availableapplication(s) for the specific device.

Block 42 depicts the submission of the form, which may occur byselecting a submission button on the user interface. At block 44 themethod includes determining whether the request is to be sent to atelephone number which will be ported from another carrier. If theelectronic message is associated with a ported telephone number, thenblock 46 occurs, wherein the message is batched with other messages fora batched transmission. Accordingly, the batched messages aretransmitted after a delay period, as shown by block 46. Block 47illustrates the determination of whether the messages were successfullydelivered to the device. If so, block 48 occurs wherein a batchedsuccess message is displayed via the user interface. The method thenterminates at block 50.

If the message is not successfully delivered as determined by block 47,an error message is displayed for the system operator, as shown by block64. The method again terminates at block 50. It is recognized, howeverthat at block 47 the user interface may contain a re-submission buttonfor the system operator to resubmit the form requesting generation ofthe electronic message.

Referring back to block 44, if the submitted form for the electronicmessage is to not be ported, then a block 52 occurs wherein the messageis immediately generated for the device via the provisioning serviceslayer. Block 54 depicts the determination of whether the message wassuccessfully delivered. If so, the method includes displaying asuccessful delivery message as depicted by block 56 (FIG. 2B). Themethod then terminates at block 50.

If the message was not successfully delivered, an error message isdisplayed and the web form allows for a retry or batching of the messageas depicted by block 58 (FIG. 2B). Accordingly, block 59 depicts adetermination of whether to retry sending the message or batch themessage for delivery. If a “retry” of the delivery is selected, themethod returns to block 52 (FIG. 2A). If batching of the message isselected, block 60 occurs wherein the message is batched and delivered.Accordingly, block 62 depicts the determination of whether the messagewas successfully delivered. If not, an error message is displayed asshown at block 64 and the method terminates at block 50. As shown, atblock 66, if the message was successfully delivered, a batch deliverysuccess message is displayed. Again, the message terminates at block 50.

Now, referring to FIGS. 3-5, several non-limiting exemplary userinterface screen shots are illustrated. FIG. 3 illustrates a userinterface 70 that may be displayed via the web form when the userinterface is initially displayed to the system operator. The userinterface 90 (FIG. 4) includes a delivery success message in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. The user interface 100(FIG. 5) illustrates an error message that may be displayed when anelectronic message is not successfully delivered in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Specifically referring to FIG. 3, the user interface 70 includes a setof instructions as shown by a bracket 72. The system operator isprovided these instructions to enable efficient and proper use of theuser interface 70. It is recognized that the instructions shown in thebracket 72 are merely exemplary and may vary in alternative embodiments.A bracket 74 includes an account number for an identified account thatis associated with a device.

As shown, the user interface 70 may enable the system operator torequest multiple electronic messages for multiple devices that areassociated with the account number shown in bracket 74. The bracket 76includes a mobile number column wherein the contact information (i.e.,phone number) for several devices that are associated with the accountnumber (bracket 74) is shown. Bracket 78 includes a “make” column, whichhas a pull down menu for selecting the specific make of each mobiledevice identified by a mobile number in bracket 76. As such, the systemoperator may select the make for a specific device by selecting, via acomputer peripheral, the pull down menu. Bracket 80 includes a “model”field for selecting the specific model of the device. As shown, themodel of the device may be selected via a pull down menu for eachrespective device.

Bracket 82 includes a “ported” column that includes a check box forthose devices that have been ported. Bracket 84 also includes thevarious application types (e.g., SMS types) that may be downloaded bythe device. As shown in this embodiment, the application types include avideo client application column (bracket 84 a), an MIUI (i.e., theme)client application column (bracket 84 b), and an email clientapplication column (bracket 84 c). Also, as shown, check boxes for eachapplication may be displayed after the system determines the make, modeland/or capabilities of the device(s) via the provisioning serviceslayer. Once the system operator completes the form presented by the userinterface 70, it may be submitted by selecting the “Send SMS” button 88.Selecting button 88 causes generation of an electronic message. However,in the event that a telephone number is ported from one service providerto another, the generation of the electronic message may be batched andtransmitted after a delay period.

As described above, when the device successfully receives an electronicmessage, a successful delivery message may be provided to the systemoperator. FIG. 4 includes a non-limiting exemplary user interface 90that illustrates a successful delivery message. Bracket 91 indicates adisplay message that the generated message was successfully transmittedto the device. Bracket 93 includes an account number that is associatedwith the device that received the electronic message containing theapplication(s). Bracket 92 includes a contact or device informationcolumn, which includes several mobile numbers for particular electronicdevices that are associated with the account number within bracket 93.Bracket 94 includes an electronic application column that includes a TVapplication client column (bracket 94 a), a theme application column(bracket 94 b) and an email client application column (bracket 94 c). Asshown by the brackets 92 and 94, the first entry has received anelectronic message(s) having the theme application client and the emailapplication client. The second device as indicated by the second entrywithin bracket 92 has received an electronic message(s) containing theTV application client and the theme application client, as indicated inbrackets 94 a and 94 b. Once the user interface 90 is displayed to thesystem operator, the system operator may exit the program by selectingthe “close web form” button 96.

As described in the foregoing, when a message(s) is not successfullytransmitted, an error message may be displayed for the system operator.FIG. 5 includes a user interface 100 that shows an exemplary errormessage. Bracket 110 includes a set of explanations for the errormessage including an error code and an error description. Bracket 112includes instructions for the system operator to retry submission of theweb form thereby causing generation of the electronic message(s) for thedevice(s). Accordingly, an account number field 114 is shown.Additionally, a contact or device information column is shown in bracket116 along with a “make” column (bracket 118), a “model” column (bracket120), a “ported” column (bracket 122), and an application type column(bracket 124). The application column (bracket 124) is further dividedinto sub-columns including a TV application column (bracket 140 a), atheme application column (bracket 124 b), and an email applicationcolumn (bracket 124 c). As shown, a number of check boxes appear thatmay be selected depending upon the specific make/model of the device(i.e., telephone). For example, the first device entry in bracket 116(i.e., 656 789 8665) is to receive the video application and the emailapplication. Once the specific applications have been selected for therespective devices, the electronic message may be generated by selecting“Retry SMS” button 128. Additionally, as described above, multiplemessages may be batched together and delivered either after a delayperiod or immediately upon selection of a “Batch SMS” button 126.

While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described,it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe allpossible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in thespecification are words of description rather than limitation, and it isunderstood that various changes may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention. For example, in some embodiments forautomated transactions, the administration system 12 may communicatedirectly with the provisioning services layer 16 without utilizing theweb form 14 as an interface.

1. A method comprising: acquiring device information that relates to atleast one device; determining whether the at least one device supportsan at least one electronic application based on the device information;generating an electronic message at a provisioning services layer on aserver for the at least one device, wherein the message contains atleast one link for acquiring the at least one application when the atleast one device supports the at least one application; acquiringaccount information associated with the at least one device; determiningthat the acquired account information indicates that a service providerassociated with the at least one device has been terminated; responsiveto determining that the acquired account information indicates that aservice provider associated with the at least one device has beenterminated, batching the electronic message; and transmitting thebatched message after a predetermined delay period.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising downloading the at least one applicationwhen the link is selected via the at least one device.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein generating the electronic message for the at least onedevice includes: receiving the electronic message at a wireless serviceprovider; and transmitting the electronic message to the at least onedevice.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the electronicmessage for the at least one device includes generating a short messageservice (SMS) message that is transmitted utilizing a short messagepeer-to-peer (SMPP) protocol or a simple message transfer protocol(SMTP).
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the link includes a uniformresource locator (URL) link.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: updating the account information when the at least onedevice is configured for the at least one application.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one application includes at least one ofan email client application, a client application configured to displaya program, and a theme client application.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the email client application and the client applicationconfigured to display a program are automatically downloaded through theuse of the theme client application.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereingenerating the electronic message for the at least one device includesgenerating a plurality of messages that are transmitted to a pluralityof devices after a delay period.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein,acquiring device information that relates to the at least one device andgenerating the electronic message for the at least one device occursthrough the use of a graphical user interface.
 11. The method of claim1, wherein determining whether the at least one device supports the atleast one application based on the device information includesdetermining whether the at least one device is configured for the atleast one application based upon a make of the at least one device or amodel of the at least one device.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein theat least one device is at least one of a mobile telephone and a personaldigital assistant (PDA).
 13. A system for providing at least oneelectronic application to at least one device, wherein the at least onedevice has device information relating to the at least one device'scapabilities, the system comprising: a provisioning services layerhaving at least one server with a memory, wherein the device informationis stored within the memory, the provisioning services layer beingconfigured to: determine whether the at least one device supports the atleast one application based on the device information, and generateelectronic messages for the at least one device that contain at leastone link for acquiring the at least one application; and a userinterface being in communication with the provisioning services layer,the user interface configured to acquire the device information andcause the provisioning services layer to generate the electronicmessages when the at least one device supports the at least oneapplication, wherein generating the electronic messages for the at leastone device includes generating a plurality of messages that aretransmitted to a plurality of devices, the at least one device and theplurality of devices being associated with one another via accountinformation.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the provisioningservices layer includes: a subscriber services component beingconfigured to identify an account that is associated with the at leastone device, wherein the subscriber services component identifies theaccount information that relates to the account and provides the accountinformation for the user interface; a device services component thatprovides the device information including the at least one device'scapabilities and product information for the at least one device; and amessaging services component for generating the electronic messagescontaining the at least one link for acquiring the at least oneapplication.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein generating theelectronic messages containing the at least one link for acquiring theat least one application includes generating a short message service(SMS) message that is transmitted utilizing a short message peer-to-peer(SMPP) protocol or a simple message transfer protocol (SMTP).
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the at least one link includes a uniformresource locator (URL) link.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein the atleast one application includes at least one of an email clientapplication, a client application configured to display a program, and atheme client application.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the emailclient application and the client application configured to display aprogram are automatically downloaded through the use of the theme clientapplication.
 19. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality ofmessages are transmitted to the plurality of devices after a delayperiod.
 20. A method for providing at least one electronic applicationto at least one mobile device, the method comprising: acquiring deviceinformation that relates to the at least one mobile device through theuse of a provisioning services layer on a server and a user interface;determining whether the at least one mobile device supports the at leastone application based on the device information through the use of theprovisioning services layer on the server; transmitting a short messageservice (SMS) message to the at least one mobile device in response to arequest submitted via the user interface when the at least one mobiledevice supports the at least one application, wherein the SMS messagecontains at least one uniform resource locator (URL) link for acquiringthe at least one application; batching the SMS message for a secondtransmission at the provisioning services layer on the server responsiveto determining that the transmitted SMS message has not been received bythe at least one mobile device; transmitting the batched SMS message;displaying a message received indication when the batched SMS message isreceived by the at least one mobile device; and downloading theapplication responsive to the selection of the link through the use ofthe at least one mobile device.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein theat least one application includes at least one of an email clientapplication, a client application configured to display a program, and atheme client application.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the emailclient application and the client application configured to display aprogram are automatically downloaded through the use of the theme clientapplication.
 23. The method of claim 20, wherein transmitting thebatched SMS message includes transmitting a batch file containing atelephone number of the at least one mobile device, a make and model ofthe at least one mobile device, an email support flag, a television (TV)support flag, and a theme support flag.